Golden Pints 2015

GOLDEN PINTS 2015

Well, not quite everyone is doing it but I'll throw in my selection for consideration and/or ridicule.

My year of beer started with the Manchester Beer Festival at the Velodrome, I'll miss that venue in some ways but not in others. Quickly followed by Bierfestival Brugge.
Next up was my my local beer festival, one I've been working at for over 30 years.
In March one just has to attend this and the following week the volunteers of Bieres Sans Frontieres descended on the fair City of Milan, four brewery visits and a beer festival, not bad for a weekend away!
July and we're back in Staveley for one of the best Beer Festivals in the land, don't miss it.
August brought GBBF and London Craft Beer Festival, some bloggers seemed to think LCBF was superior... I just don't see how.
September means Leeds International Beer Festival great fun to work at and great company.
October and my first visit to Indy Man Beer Con great venue, great beer, enthusiastic punters and many friends. Somehow ended up heading to the wrong bar for after festival drinks with Stu McKinlay and Dan Shelton.

Anyway, the awards...

Best UK cask beer:

Vocation Life and Death, a bit of a latecomer in the year for me as I first encountered it in November, but what a beer.

Best UK keg beer:

Hawkshead Chuckleberry Sour, one of the most refreshing beers I had all year, and what a colour!

Best UK bottled beer:

Fullers 2003 Vintage Ale, it was just so damn tasty.

Best UK canned beer:

Moor Nor'Hop justifying the decision to move over to cans, this (and the other Moor canned beers) show that canning has truly come of age.

Best Overseas Draught Beer:

Birrificio Italiano Tipopils, this time drinking it ​at Birrificio Italiano restaurant in Lurago Marinone.

Best Overseas Bottle/can Beer:

Sierra Nevada Torpedo, again because it's constant and downright delicious.

Beer of the Year:

Mad Fox Brewing Company Barrel Aged Crazy Ivan Russian Imperial Stout (cask at GBBF)

Best Pumpclip or Label:

Magic Rock distinctive and direct

Best UK Brewery:

Kernel or Wild Beer Co. or Hawkshead or... this is just impossible, we have so many excellent breweries in the UK, we should be ashamed.

Best Overseas Brewery:

Pohjala a superb introduction to their beers at Indy Man, loved every one of them.

Pub/Bar of the Year:

North Bar, again by a short head

Independent Retailer of the Year:

No idea

Online Retailer of the Year:

Don’t buy on line

Best Beer Blog or Website:

Tandleman & Zythophile are the only ones I visit regularly.

Best Beer Festival:

GBBF still the best, also enjoyed Leeds International Beer Festival and blown away by IndyMan 

Best city for beer in the UK:

Leeds

Supermarket of the Year:

Booths

Best Beer App:

Craft Beer London

Best Beer Book or Magazine:

Too many are just lists of beers so it goes to Stephen Beaumont for The Beer & Food Companion.

Italian Beer Oddysey. Part 3 Milan

Arriving in Milan we already had a couple of places to hit, the recently opened Baladin and the long established Birrificio Lambrate, there was also the promise of a couple of Brewery visits and the highly anticipated pilgrimage to Sherwood Pub.

Having already sampled the delights of Open Baladin in Rome we knew that a short trip on the Metro and a five minute walk would be the perfect end to our first day in Milan. When we arrived we were somewhat dismayed to see that every table had a reserved notice on it, not a good start. But, as if by magic, first one sign then another were removed as the staff realised that it looked rather silly to have a half empty bar with people looking for somewhere to sit.
I opted for a Nazionale to accompany a tasty Chicken Burger whilst Louise opted for an Isaac to go with her salad. Excellent food and excellent beer, we sampled a few more including Leon, Elixir and Nora.
Service was attentive and friendly, and by the time we left the place was full. Leo certainly knows what he's doing.

Lorenzo

The next day we caught an early train to Lecco to be met by Allesandro, one of the many Italian BSF volunteer staff, who had promised to show us a little of where he lived and take us to a couple of local Breweries. After a coffee and visit to a local cheese shop we were heading off to Birrificio Rurale to meet Lorenzo, the brewer, and to sample a couple of beers. As with the brewers we met at the Beer Festival in Rome we found Lorenzo to be a passionate advocate of Italian Beer, insisting that copying a style of beer without putting your own twist on it to make it Italian was not something he wished to do. As an example we sampled Seta and Seta Special, essentially the same Belgian Style Wit Bier but with the Special having Bergamot to give it a distinctive twist.

Marco

long way from home

Time to move on to Birrificio Menaresta and a few more beers to sample. Unlike Rurale where Lorenzo was working on his own most of the time there were a few more staff in evidence and a nice little bar to entertain guests. Marco, the brewer, was a generous host trying to get us to sample as many of his beers as possible in as short a time as possible. It was approaching lunch time, hence the rush. Needless to say the beers were excellent, and despite the contradictory name 'Hoppy Double Kolsch' I rather enjoyed that one. But in Italy everything stops for lunch and we were invited to join everyone as they walked round the corner and into the local restaurant. The first thing I noticed on entering, apart from it being full, was the well stocked beer fridge which even had Westvleteren in it. The next was a rather incongruous hand pump, what was that doing here? It turned out that Marco and Justin are friends, and Justin would be visiting the next day.
Following a leisurely lunch we headed back to Milan thoroughly exhausted by our whirlwind tour and needing a rest before heading out in the evening.

Call it serendipity, but again I had managed to book a Hotel in walking distance of a Brewpub, Lambrate was about ten minutes walk away and the newer Lambrate on Via Golgi, which we were assured served good food, was another five minutes away. Sorted.
The Brewpub was heaving and it took a while to get served, one of the first Italian beers that I remember having at GBBF some years back was Ghisa and I was looking forward to sampling it again, delicious. We decide to move on to the new place but found that to be equally heaving and some local Radio show being broadcast from there. All tables reserved, not a chance of a seat, so it was a good job it was warm outside. Also a good job we weren't particularly hungry, and after sampling three or four beers we decided to call it a day.

On Saturday The Sherwood Pub beckoned, first we had to get a train to Novara where we would be met by Nino who showed us around this beautiful City before taking us to a new bar that had opened recently. There we met up with a couple that I had previously met in Braustelle a few years back. It was part of the plan to ensure we got back to Milan that night! The bar was simple and looked more like a transport cafe, but it's early days and the beer was good.

Nino

The Sherwood Pub is in the small village of Nicorvo, there's not a lot else there, it's small and out of the way and why anyone would open a beer bar there is probably beyond most peoples understanding, but Nino did and it's wonderful.
The pub is a converted barn and on entering you notice the array of taps on the bar, the murals on the walls and the generally welcoming atmosphere. Beer appeared as if by magic. A fine Gran Cru Bruscella 2006? was carefully brought down from the special store to whet our appetites, this was followed by more beer and plates of Antipasti and the best Pizza I've ever had, and more beer. A visit to Nino's cellars left me drooling, so much fine beer. For desert a Birramisù, coffee then a bottle of Xyauyù was produced and it was a fitting final beer of the evening. Happy and contented we were taken back to Novara to catch to train back to Milan, a truly wonderful evening and one we won't forget.

 So that's it, three Cities in Italy which have great beer and great pubs. And there's to be another bar in Milan as Nino is opening one soon in his home City.

Italian Beer Odyssey. Part 2 Florence

Advance research told us that there would be good beer to be found in Florence, and yet again chance would have it that Mostodolce was almost on our doorstep. A bustling Brewpub with a good range of their own beers and some rather good pizzas which you could see being made behind the bar. Rebe, their version of a Belgian Witbier was particularly welcome after a day visiting the sites.



The walls are covered with the doodles of the patrons, don't know whether this ended up on the wall.




Being within walking distance of our Hotel it was hard to make the effort after climbing up to the top of Giotto's tower and Florence Cathedral but one must make the effort. It was whilst crossing over the Ponte Alle Grazie that I realised that we were close to The Beer House Club, hidden away from the tourist hordes it was a quiet lunchtime oasis with what appeared to be a good selection of beers.

Almond 22 had already impressed me at the Beer Festival in Rome so it was a no brainer to have for a lunchtime drink before heading back for more Italian Renaissance Art.

I felt a need to return in the evening and arrived to find it rather lacking in customers, maybe it was the threatened karaoke that put people off? Anyway I was there for the beer and decided to go for the 5 beer sample. The samples turned out to be full half pints, not begrudgingly small 3 or 4 oz samples. Chatting to the owner I was encouraged to try Bruton, Ducato, and Fabio's own beers Maledetto Toscana. Fabio had previously worked at Mostodolce but felt the need to make his own way with his own bar, and it's a good job he did.

I was soon joined at the bar by an engaging gent from Sweden who turned out to be the owner of Box Whisky who insisted that Fabio and I sampled some of his Whisky. Needless to say we then started sampling many beers from the fine selection at BHC and the evening passed all to quickly. When it came to settle up at the end of the evening all thoughts of what had been consumed were ignored, a good time had been had by all.

No doubt there will be more bars opening in Florence before too long judging by the popularity of Mostodolce. There is the demand and it would be nice to see BHC as busy as that one day. BHC has the better choice of beer and is cetainly worth seeking out.